The Most Beautiful Girl in the World
by CreativelySpecial
Summary: One-shot. To Charlie, Claire is the most beautiful girl in the world. Contains MAJOR spoilers from seasons three and four.


**AN: I always thought that Claire and Charlie were adorable! Enjoy!**

**Warning: Contains serious spoilers from season four.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Lost.**

**The Most Beautiful Girl in the World**

Charlie had always thought Claire was the most beautiful girl in the world.

From the first moment he saw her, he wanted to protect her. She was so sweet, so innocent and fragile—how could someone like _her _possibly survive on an island full of savages like _him_? It simply wasn't feasible.

You see; Charlie was a drug addict. He couldn't go more than a day without heroin. He supposed that this was the reason why he was being punished. He thought that he had been put on the island as a way of torture, to make him regret all of his sins; he was a religious man, though he wouldn't admit it to anyone.

Since she was pregnant, it gave him an excuse to help her. He recalled the moment when she said, "It's like everyone's afraid of me because I'm pregnant," or something along those lines. He shook his head, laughing. How things had changed.

Claire had grown on this island. Physically, she was still the same. Mentally, though, everything had changed for her: when he first met her, she was so weak and helpless. Now, she was strong, tough, and able to stand up for herself. She didn't _need _him like she used to.

Charlie would've done anything for her—he knew that from day one. As time progressed, they gradually became closer and closer, better and better friends. Charlie wanted something more; Claire obviously didn't.

And then he and Claire were kidnapped, and Charlie's whole world was flipped upside down. The need to protect her was amplified by a thousand as they were roughly dragged through the forest like rag dolls. Of course, that feeling was null and void when Ethan carried her away and Charlie was left hanging, humiliated and exhausted, from a tree, embracing death.

He was _so close _to letting go when Jack and Kate found him. He was right on the brink of death…but he didn't die. No, that wouldn't have served a greater purpose for the island, like he later would. As Jack punched him in the chest, trying to bring his corpse back to life, he dreaded regaining consciousness; it would've been so much easier to just lay down and die, letting himself be at peace.

But then he thought of Claire, and her baby. He knew that he had to fight for them. It was because of her that he let himself be woken up.

When they found Claire, his world fell back into place…for a minute. When he realized that she couldn't remember anything about him, his heart was shattered. Everything he had worked for, everything he had earned…gone. Just like that.

He became more and more determined to make her remember him and to make her remember the relationship that they had had.

Eventually, he became victorious. Slowly, she got little flashbacks of things that her brain was trying to keep her from remembering, things that she had blocked out. She remembered what they had.

One night, while they were camping out, Charlie kissed her. It was one of the best memories he had. He felt very happy and at home whenever he was around her, so, to kiss her…it was beyond words. All he knew was that it ended too quickly and that he smiled like an idiot for ten minutes straight afterwards. Of course, Claire did, too, for the record.

And then Claire had her baby. Aaron was the most beautiful child the world had ever seen. Charlie couldn't be biased, of course, because the baby wasn't his. Though he wasn't biologically related to him, Charlie had every intention of helping Claire raise the baby. Claire had other ideas.

Though she let him be around the baby and take care of him much more than anyone else, she was still very possessive and protective of her child. He kept telling himself that it was just because of her motherly instincts…even though deep, deep down inside, he knew that it was something else entirely.

Just when things were starting to get normal again, she had to go and get the wrong idea about the drugs he had. He hadn't been using them—he had been getting rid of them. This, once again, broke apart their trust.

Trust had always been one of his biggest issues. He hardly ever let anyone in; so to let her in, only for her not to do the same, was just about the worst thing that could happen to him. It was wrenching his heart out as he repeatedly tried to gain her trust back, and failing every time. He was spiraling down a deep, dark road that he didn't want to go down—not again.

Charlie was heartbroken at this point and didn't know how much more he could take of this madness. Falling in love is never easy, but this was just…too far out of hand and ridiculous.

Of course, in the end, Charlie supposed that everything he went through was worth finding the love of his life. She had helped him in ways that she never even knew about, and he would always be thankful for that.

Charlie started having strange, horrific dreams about Aaron being harmed. In his mission to do anything to prevent it from happening, he came off as a crazed psychopath to everyone else on the island. There was deep hurt and betrayal in Claire's eyes as she struck him. Soon, after it happened again, he was banned from seeing the baby ever again.

Charlie would cry himself to sleep at night like a little baby, wondering why he was even still alive. Things were so terrible that he, the little ray of sunshine, couldn't find anything to look forward to. He knew that he was in love with Claire, and he also knew that she didn't return the sentiment at the moment.

What hurt the most was that she trusted John Locke, the crazy man that brought guns and knives on an airplane, more than she trusted the guy that she had kissed and allowed to help raise her baby.

By some miracle, though, Claire found it in herself to forgive him. She saw that he was only looking out for the best interest of her son, and her kind heart allowed her to accept that as a good thing. Charlie really didn't even know what had happened: one second, she was staring at him with hate in her eyes, and the next, their relationship was stronger than it had ever been.

Desmond, the freak that had lived in the hatch for the last three years and ran around naked, dropped the bad news bomb on him, though: it turned out that Charlie had no chance whatsoever of surviving. He was going to die, and he was going to die soon.

Charlie's body couldn't even register all of the shock that was going through it. He sat, dull and useless, for day after day after day, trying to process what Crazy Desmond had told him. Could death, once seeming so peaceful and inviting, really sound like such a horrendous, frightening thing now? Charlie didn't see how it could be possible.

Eventually, he got off his lazy butt to help Claire out and contribute to the rest of the island. If he was going to die, he might as well make the most out of his last days. A couple of days later, Desmond stopped him from dying for the third time.

When Desmond had the fourth and final vision, he knew that Charlie wouldn't want him to stop it this time. Not if it meant getting the girl he loved and her kid off of this stupid island. When he told Charlie, his eyes glazed over in a final decision, one that would impact the rest of his short life.

Charlie made a list of his best moments, wrote them down, and was ready to end his life. Charlie was finally at peace when he passed on the ring that had been in his family for so many years. He remembered his brothers words: _No, Charlie; you have to take it. You're the responsible one. One day, you're going to move on, fall in love and have kids. And they'll be able to wear this ring._

A single tear slipped down his cheek as he thought of his brother's words to him. So much had changed; and in some ways, his Liam had been right—he had fallen in love and (sort of) had kids. And now the kid could wear the ring, whether he knew just how much it meant or not.

And, after getting one more kiss from Claire, the only girl he'd ever loved, he was ready to die.

You see; Charlie Pace is dead. He died, drowning himself so that Claire and Aaron would be able to get off the island.

He still looked down and watched over her, smiling without even a trace of regret. It was his time to go, just as it would soon be hers; and then they could live together for forever.

"I'll take care of you Claire. I'll protect you," he whispered to her, even though she couldn't hear him. "I love you."

He sat for the rest of the day, peacefully watching the most beautiful girl in the world.

**AN: Good? Bad? Hated it? Loved it? Reviews are, as always, appreciated! **


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